The Legend Goes On
by ellibaby23
Summary: My story of the aftermath of I am Legend takes you on a path into what could have happened once Will Smith took his life. My characters will take you on a crazy path into what will happen in this plot twisting aftermath. Enjoy carefully...


I am Legend-Aftermath

I am Anna writing in my daily journal while hiding inside a rundown warehouse along the Hudson River. The Hudson River is near Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. I have a 12 year old boy with me named Ethan. Ethan and I feel lucky to be alive after what seemed like a nuclear bomb explosion. There is no sign of life as I peek out the crack of light coming through the boarded up window. The only sound you hear is maybe a "church" mouse. We gather our backpacks and escape from the warehouse. As it turns out, every human being has been killed by some type of biological warfare; bacteria, a germ, most likely a virus. Are we really the only two people alive?

While in New York City, Ethan and I had stayed with Dr. Robert Neville. I never understood how Neville maintained his sanity. When the Vamps came out by night there was the constant threat of death. Finding a medical cure for the mutant disease that created the Vamps was his only focus.

When he died, I felt that Ethan and I would die. We were under attack by Vamps in his basement laboratory. I remember a loud explosion.

A New Ally

Hours later, we left the walk-in safe by daylight. We headed west in search of a safe place to take a rest. We checked lots of doors.

It's easy to tell which first floor stores have an unlocked door. Obvious signs of a disturbance are inside, yet there are no broken windows or beaten down doors. We found what once was a vape and hookah shop, and entered.

Ethan wasn't saying anything. I felt he must be in shock. We entered the store and went behind the counter and told him to lie down on the couch.

"We are safe here. It's daytime and this is one of millions of places," I said. I went back to the front of the vape shop and opened the envelope from Dr. Neville. Inside was the vaccine test tube of blood, and a syringe. Also in the envelope was a small piece of paper. It said, Rocky 726 West 57th.

This was more hopeful than the syringe and a tube of blood. This was meant to guide me to a friend. I stashed it in my coat pocket. I also happen to find a few beef jerky which I shoved in my mouth. I then went back to where Ethan was sound asleep. In no time, I passed out too.

After dark I woke Ethan. "I have a journey for us." Eventually he sat up. I fed him crackers and canned beans. I also grabbed a can of spam for the road. He looked at me clueless. I asked him to please say something.

"Anna," she said.

Our journey was south by about 3 miles. It occurred to me that Rocky might no longer be there. Nothing was for certain.

When we reached 57th Street we only had to go east a few blocks from the corner. At the address we found a three flat apartment building. We walked up to the entrance, but the big steel door was locked. Nothing I could see inside through the window of the building looked out of place.

We found a tire iron on the street and used it to bang against the metal door, hoping to get Rocky to answer the door. A half hour of banging and waiting didn't get an answer.

Surely Rocky was still there if the outer walls of the three flat were standing. There was a garage door behind the building, and we found a key pad with three buzzers. I pushed one that worked and rang a loud buzzer which I could hear inside of the door. I rang and rang. Nothing.

Finally, I decided to throw a rock at a window. The rock bounced off the window! I threw a second rock and it went through the window leaving a golf ball size hole, but did not shatter the glass. We walked around the front of the apartment but daylight was running out, and an hour later we found ourselves back out on 57th Street. We stared at the big steel door.

Now something moved on the inside front window. From behind the window we saw a man with long brown hair wearing overalls. As he came to the front door I pressed the paper with his name and address against the glass. He looked at it, then looked at me. After what seemed like forever, he pointed toward the door.

"This way," he said, as he walked quickly in the direction from which he had come, and in seconds the front of the apartment was as lifeless as it was when we arrived. Once in the dark interior of the apartment hallway, Rocky turned to us.

"Who told you to come here?"

"Dr. Robert Neville," I said.

"How is Neville?" I was silent.

"I see. Dead," said Rocky. "Are there others with you?"

"No," I replied.

"Come upstairs," he said, and pressed the button for the elevator, which shined light. Yea electricity! "I'll explain," he said.

We arrived at the 3rd floor. As we walked down the hall he took a key from his pocket, and he inserted it into the door marked 0307.

"I have to do something before it begins to get dark, but I will return in an hour. Use the bathrooms now. Eat something. Make yourselves at home. I would return sooner but when I turn the power off I have to walk all the way up from the sub-basement."

He showed us the kitchen with a candle. "Anything you want," he said. "I have to go. The sun won't be up much longer." He turned to us as he was about to leave. "I used to be the engineer of this building. I heard you ring the buzzer." Then the door shut and locked.

We cleaned up and ate like there was no tomorrow. An hour later, Rocky came back. The building was dead silent now. We then took the time to introduce ourselves on how we had known Neville. Then Rocky spoke.

"I've been here a year. For another year I may be able to keep the electricity on. Then I run out of batter storage life. Everything runs on solar power, batteries only last so long. I live on canned foods and bottled water. At night everything has to be dark and quiet. The Vamps must never see light coming from here, or sense even the slightest sign of life when they go by. Tonight, you can both sleep in the extra bedroom on this floor and be in as safe a place as there is." That was the end of our day.

In the morning Rocky was sitting on a window ledge. There were fires and smoke in the street. Rocky was about sixty something in age. He sported a scruffy beard and had bad knees. He had stopped caring about appearances.

I have something to tell him. "Dr. Neville gave me a package before he left us that contains a vaccine."

"Vaccine?"

"For whatever created these vampires," I told him. "He assured me that it turned Vamps back into humans."

"You carry it with you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then there can't be much," he said.

"I have to figure out what to do." "Can we make more?"

"You and the kid stay put for a while. Rest up for awhile. I'll give you a room to hang out in across the hall."

"What is your plan?" I asked.

"My plan is to be as careful as I can today, and to be in the same safe way at the end of the day tomorrow. Beyond that, I don't know. There is just today and tomorrow."

The sun shone brightly when the three of us left the apartment later that morning. The hallway was dark.

Holding a candle, he said, "You would never believe how many candles some people have in their apartments." He took us down to the second floor, and showed us how he had gone through all three apartments and took anything worth saving.

"When I use things up or get them dirty, I put them out in the garage, which I use as a garbage dump. I don't want to leave garbage behind everywhere. I have to keep some kind of order here," he said.

We went outside to see the garage used as a garbage dump. "Nothing goes out the apartment windows," he said, "even though that's tempting. No one can know we are here."

Planning

One night Rocky and I sat at the window facing the sunset side and the city was dark except for a few fires. The sky was haze filled.

I told him, "I need to do something with the vaccine. Neville sacrificed himself for it. I can't ignore that."

"Anna, is there anything you can do with it?" asked Rocky.

"No, nothing. It makes no sense to consider it. There is one other option. We can try to leave the City."

"And go where?" asked Rocky.

"Farmington, California. They say there is a colony of survivors like you, Ethan and me there. I'm told it's a self-sufficient organic ranch compound. The location is totally off the grid. Maybe they have some smart people who can do something with it."

"How will you get to California?" he asked.

"Help me find a way. Come with us." Rocky was silent.

The next day we sat at Rocky's window and watched as fires burned on the east side of the City. Rocky said that in the garage across the alley there are two solar powered cars. A Tesla Model S and a BMW X5 SUV, but he didn't know how he would find the fob keys and he didn't know if they would start since they had not been in the sun to collect energy to make them run. The solar panels on the car windows collect its energy from the sun. The solar windows on the car store energy in the batteries which are in the bottom half of the trunk.

"We will go out there tomorrow and see what we can find," he said.

"And you will come with us when we go?" I asked.

"It never occurred to me to leave."

The Garage

Next morning Rocky walked to the sub-basement to turn the electric power on, and brought the elevator up to get us. Out in the garage Rocky went to look over the condition of the car and SUV that had been sitting for well over a year. We would try every door to see if any were unlocked, and if so, was there a key fob in the ignition? Over the visor? Under the mat? Or, tossed on the front seat? We finished checking the doors, both vehicles had key fobs, and only one car barely had enough power to start when we tried it. We started the car and moved it outside in the sun to store up energy. Minutes later, Ethan's scream brought Rocky and me running back into the garage. Ethan had found a dead body inside the other car. We quit after that.

The next day we used a flashlight to check for more bodies. We found one more body under some blankets. It smelled so bad, all three of us almost puked! Rocky almost coughed up a lung! On the next day, Rocky told me that he would go to the garage alone to "clean up." Ethan and I would stay upstairs with maps and telescopes, and look for the best routes out of the city.

The next day we all took a break from doing work. Ethan was more talkative than normal. Rocky was quiet again. We looked at all the best routes out of the City once more.

The best option seemed to be the Lincoln Tunnel which was only 10 blocks from where we were. The tunnel went under the Hudson River into New Jersey. The dark tunnel kept us from being able to see its condition clearly, but Rocky and I decided that we could go see the tunnel with our solar powered flashlights. Rocky wore a miner's hard hat that shined a light a long distance.

The next evening Rocky said, "I have an idea. I will spend tomorrow and maybe the next day getting both cars ready. When we are ready to go, we will pack up the car or SUV that gives us the best chance to hit the road."

"Have you decided to go with us?" I asked.

"Let me tell you my plan. I'll take our first or second choice of car for a test run during the morning. If I can get through the tunnel to New Jersey and come back, I'll return immediately, and we'll change cars and we will go. If the tunnel isn't clear, we start over another day. But I think if the tunnel is open, or if it's not, I should be with you. All three of us escape as one unit."

I spoke. "Everything seems clear until we actually have to do it. I feel like I have asked so much of you already."

"Let me be the judge of that. I want to do this in the morning," he said as he left.

Escape

In the morning we got ready. He was going with, and there was no further discussion. Out to the garage he went. Ethan and I put together our game plan. We had packed water and crackers in our backpacks. Ethan fell asleep on the floor, and I was worried looking out at the tunnel entrance through the telescope.

Rocky decided to take the BMW allowing him to do a test run. He had the Tesla ready if he returned with word that we needed to navigate through tight spots, and to move quickly.

Next morning we put everything in the garage that we were taking with us. We waited. When Rocky returned we would then know which car we were to pack up. We had things timed so that we would be able to run upstairs and back down in time to open the garage door for him.

On the 3rd floor we ran down the hall, and Ethan plastered himself against the window. My eye was glued to the sight on the telescope. In very little time the BMW was coming back.

I jumped up and grabbed Ethan. We planned 2 minutes of get away time. The elevator was slow like a dormitory one. We should have taken the stairs, but we had too much shit to carry.

Rocky was shaking big time. He jumped out of the car; put his hands to his face. He finally spoke. "We are going for it! We need the fast and narrow car, the Tesla. There is a car in the tunnel stalled that is sort of blocking the exit into New Jersey. The BMW is too wide to make it through. Load up the Tesla."

Ethan threw our things in the Tesla. I placed the vaccine inside the glove box. Rocky put an extra car battery on the floor behind the driver's side. Ethan wrapped himself up in a comforter in the back seat. Rocky started the car. He hit the garage door button to open the door. No power. Rocky got out of the car and opened the door by hand. We took off like a rocket!

Even at midday my fear of Vamps was still on my mind. We sped the ten blocks to the tunnel, avoiding the wreckage that was in the streets. We hit the tunnel at full speed and only when we got halfway inside did Rocky slow down. Up ahead was a car stopped at an angle on the right side of the tunnel at the exit. We would have to move the car a bit. Rocky slowed his speed, and when he got close he bumped the red Mustang, and then he slowly tried to move it. The Mustang would not move.

The car had been sitting a long time. The tires were flat. Rocky backed up, and put the Tesla in low gear. He pushed the car, and it moved, but then our wheels began to spin. Again we backed up. We again pushed the car forward. The next push moved the car just enough to get past it, and Rocky pushed the gas pedal to the metal as we barely fit past the Mustang. As we moved forward, one side of the Tesla scraped against the Mustang.

Minutes later we turned on the New Jersey Turnpike, I-70 west, heading due west across 10 states, and over 45 hours of drive time. Since our car only runs on solar power energy, we can only travel in daylight. Five hours of daylight remain, and if our luck holds out, we will arrive in about six days to Farmington, California with the vaccine. Final destination is Range Hill Ranch.

Will they or won't they welcome us as family to the Ranch? Is there the possibility of a cure?


End file.
